Thursday, 8 July 2010

PODEMOS? SI! PODEMOS? SI! ESPANA!!!

WOooooo SPAIN is in the FINALS for the world cup, for the first time in history!!! As you can imagine, it is a really exciting time to be here!! SOOooo yesterday was a very volatile day with extreme highs and lows. Only one low, but it was a total total bummer. The day was fun because I just totally love Carman and Rafa, they make me so happy every day and I think I make them happy too! They are also totally entertaining and funny! It's great because I actually enjoy spending the day with them! I love every time that they say, "Julia Look!" and they want to show me something like a snail or what they have been coloring. Rafita also has taken to calling me "House- man" because he learned that it was my last name and finds it amusing. And it is AMAZING how much of what I say they understand, not to mention the fragmented heavily-accented English phrases they keep surprising me with every once in a while! They are totally learning!Yesterday at their tennis lesson I swam some laps in the really really nice pool. One of Annie's kids broke his leg the day before, so unfortunately she won't be at the tennis lessons anymore, but on the bright side I can just swim on my own! Then I walked back with Carmen and Rafita and we went swimming again at the Abuelas. Afterwards I went to Kaja's. We then went swimming AGAIN at her house, but it's been so hot lately that you need to hop in the water a bunch of times a day otherwise you feel sweltering!! At about 5:30 we caught a bus to Madrid to make our train ticket reservations for Grenada and also because we wanted to watch the Semi-finals in some bar there. That's where the bad thing happened.Some background: I purchased the Youth Abono, a 38 Euro pass that lets you ride the busses and metro as much as you want. A few times the heat had melted it so the machines could no longer read it, but each time I just got someone at the metro to print me a new one. But the night before I had actually lost the little coupon that comes with the abono. I still had the pass, just not the thing that you stick in the machine. I figured they could print me out a new one again. Instead, they told me that if you lose the little stub, you have to buy a completely NEW one!! I was so pissed!! I already payed for this month and I didn't want to pay again! After lots of arguing and even trying to convince a few of the people to print a new one for me, I gave in. The amount I have to use the metros and busses makes it still worth it to get the abono, so I bought another stinkin ticket. It really put me in a foul mood though, because that is a lot of money to just be gone in the blink of an eye. Luckily the funk didn't last too long. We got our tickets reserved for Grenada and then we walked around Madrid until we found a bar that we liked for watching the game.We got some pizza for dinner at the bar as well as some Servesas. It was actually really funny... The game was against Germany (I hope some of you watched! If not, I hope some of you watch the final on Sunday and root for ESPANA!!) and Kaja and I didn't think to wear yellow and red the way everyone else was. People were giving us strange and wary looks and then the bartender came over and asked us where we were from. We said Estados Unidos, to which she looked relieved. We then realized that people thought we were German! After that we cheered extra loud for Spain so there would be no confusion/ mob attacks! The title of this blog post is what I can remember of a chant they did in the Bar. Anyways, Spain scored an amazing goal on a corner kick with a header right swoosh into the net! The bar went CRAZY!! It was really fun to watch. On the bus ride home too, the streets were filled with excited Spaniards. People kept walking in front of the bus holding the spanish flag up until the bus driver honked the horn in support. It was so fun!Then today was about the same. It was considerably rainy looking out, but it was a fun day! Rafita was being especially loving and cute, huging me all over the place. Then I went to Kaja's for a momentito before I came home early just to get some rest! I need to get more sleep tonight, and Grenada tomorrow!! I AM SO EXCITED!!xoxoJulia